So You Want To Be A Hero - Parapa Palace [Xeronoia, Cloud, Electronic Ink, Oshawott3]

Nestled on the far edge of a desert, the beacon-like glare glinting off of weather-worn white bricks and pillars could be seen for miles. To stand before the stone steps of Parapa Palace, the blistering heat and barren terrain of of a dry and cracked landscape had to first be conquered. That is, unless one came to it by sea.

Trudging onto the shores leading up to the back of the palace, Cera held her shield above her head with a reflexive grimace. Dehydrating rays of sunlight beat down on her, reflecting off the sand and water and rendering the small circle of protection provided by the shield moot. The sand shifted awkwardly under her feet, only her use of her trident as a makeshift walking stick preventing any stumbling missteps.

In the small amount of time it took her to walk along the side of the palace towards it's front, Cera felt like she hadn't been in the ocean all day. Quickening her pace so as to not dry out before she even made it through the front door, the young Zora hopped up the steps two at a time in order to quickly take shelter under the shade provided by a pillar-supported overhang. Only to pause for a moment as she found herself faced with a small crowd of people gathered about.

Tilting her head curiously she tried to peer past them to see what they were looking towards, but stretching up onto the tips of her toes and a short hop couldn't make up for the fact that she was simply too short to see over them. With a shrug she reached out to tap the nearest person on the shoulder with the shaft of her trident, only to pause as she noted a statue of an armored knight on a raised pedestal.

Passing her trident to the same hand that held her shield, she reached out with her now free hand and pressed it flat against the smoothly chiseled stone. With a quick hop she brought her feet up, planting them firmly besides her hand, and for a moment it seemed as if she was crouching on the side of the statue. It only took two repetitions of the action to bring her to the top of the statue, standing atop its head and shifting her trident back into her empty hand.

Now the tallest person there from a certain point of view, Cera could easily see why everyone seemed to be waiting on something. The crowd as it turned out was more of a line, and a large sign on display above a lift read in bold letters with a few colorful words: Test Your Might, Become A Hero!

Nodding to herself as that confirmed she was in the right place at least, she was about to turn her gaze elsewhere when a second, smaller line beneath the first caught her eye. Leaning forward and squinting her round black eyes a little, she managed to make out the very tiny words: *May Require Participation In Multiple Tests Of Might Offered At Other Locations In Order To Become A Hero.

Giving a small chuckle at that, Cera turned her attention down to the lift. A heavily robed man was keeping the gathered assortment of would be heroes orderly, only letting another group enter the lift after what seemed to her an arbitrary amount of time had passed. Curiously, nobody seemed to be coming back up the lift and the lift itself seemed to just bring itself back up when it was time for the next group to enter.

Humming to herself in thought for a moment, tapping the butt of her trident against the statue's head, the Zora girl tried to guess how long a wait she might have for her turn. A gust of particularly hot and dry air washing over her brought an uncomfortable flinch, and she concluded that spending too much time out in this heat would quickly become exhausting and fighting monsters in such a state would be extremely reckless if it could be avoided. Clanking her trident against her shield to get the attention of the crowd, she spoke up just loud enough to be easily heard.

"Anyone feel like grouping up and saving some time spent waiting?" She offered a friendly smile, waiting to see if anyone would be interested before on a whim adding: "I just swam over from the Great Bay and whew, this heat is literally killing me."

Despite the very real concern of that happening for a Zora and the blunt phrasing, her tone and relaxed demeanor carried all the gravitas of a casual observation about it being a particularly sunny day.

"Oh you come from great bay I come from Snowhead and I'm not being affected." Bluddo turned his head showing his Fireshield Earrings. His eyes glistening asking "Can I go on that quest with you, I'll make our group my great pumpkin soup as payment for letting me join this group." Now how this Yeti chef ended up in Parapa Desert is quite a funny story. While searching for ingredients he got kidnapped by some Moblins and was put out in the desert to die but he survived thanks to his Fireshield Earring and was lost in the desert for days on end and eventually found the palace.

After explaining everything he walked away Bluddo then sat down and pulled out all his cooking supplies and ingredients and asked would you like a sample. He then started cutting up the pumpkins in slices and started a fire and put some pre-made broth in the pot. Then he sliced the fish and grinding the bomb flowers and put it all in the broth and waited for like 5 minutes and then offers it up to Cera.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the figure elbowing its way towards Cera was, in fact, a small waterfall with a hat sitting on top of it. To be fair, it wasn't all that far from the truth. Never before had Yeteta wanted so badly to shave off all her fur. She had already discarded her cape, and was presently fighting the urge to pull off the rest of her clothes and simply walk around in the infinitely less appropriate but infinitely cooler nuddy.

Instead, though, the drenched Yeti trudged through the crowd very much regretting ever coming here, squinting at the figure. The heat was literally killing her? Ditto! The Yeti swiped what felt like half an ocean off her face before stumping up to the Zora.
"You hot too? I hot," Yeteta said, weary. "Team up sounds like good idea,"
She shoved her hat back from where it was sliding down her sodden fur into her face. "I Yeteta," she introduced herself. "Team up with me?"

The hat slid off again, sending the doll inside plopping to the ground, and Yeteta just huffed, stooping to pick both items up before the hot wind took them. She tied both the hat and the doll together and shoved them away, pulling out a chill seed and crunching on it in an effort to cool herself down. It worked only momentarily before the goosebumps lost their war against the fiery heat and left Yeteta hot again. She resisted the urge to chew another one, instead working on defrosting the inside of her throat.
"Want one?" she offered in a raspy voice. "Makes cold, but not so long,"

Cera honestly had no idea what or where a 'snowhead' was, and just tilted her head to the side at the implication that not being affected by the heat had something to do with earrings. Magic, she guessed? Not really her thing, but she supposed the heat might be even worse if you were all covered in hair like that.

A thought that seemed to be confirmed when another very hairy person spoke up, looking like they were having an even worse time of it than the Zora herself. Distracted completely from the first, she tuned them out as they rambled on about something or other. Instead her attention was on the smaller very hairy person that introduced herself.

She blinked as a doll fell out of a hat, but put it out of mind in favor of curiosity towards the offering of some kind of seed. Hopping down from her perch on the statue and landing lightly on her feet, she glanced this Yeteta over in an appraising manner. With an encouraging smile, she replied.

"Only if you can spare it, kiddo. You look even worse than I feel. I should be okay for a bit, might take you up on it later though if you still have any. Names Cera, by the way."

After introducing herself, she paused and turned her attention back to the first very hairy person. Apparently they had finished whatever they were talking about and were now fussing about with various things, a few of which she recognized as cooking related. Thinking for a moment on what she had tuned out, she blinked once more as she remembered it being another offering of food.

Was offering people food something very hairy people did on a regular basis? Cera briefly glanced down at herself, wondering if she appeared particularly malnourished or something like that. Lean and muscular as always, so that wasn't it after all.

So instead she just gave a shrug and shook her head. She wasn't even sure what a pumpkin soup was anyways, although the chef seemed to be intent on making it regardless of her response. "Eh... After this trial, maybe. Speaking of!"

The Zora strode her way through the crowd, with a little pushing needed here and there. Walking right up to the heavily robed man, she clinked the butt of her trident down against the ground and motioned with her shield hand towards the very hairy pair. "Hey, all three of us want to go down at once, save some time and avoid dying of heatstroke."

The robed man regarded her for a moment, before seeming to sigh and nod his head. "Valid concern I suppose. Very well, into the lift with you." He waved towards the lift, adding. "Another already forced their way inside not too long ago, perhaps if he is still alive you can aid him in the trial."

Cera tilted her head at that, both curious and wondering just how dangerous this trial was. Turning back to Yeteta and Bluddo briefly, failing to notice the chef having prepared a bowl at this point, she called out with a wave. "We're up! Hopefully it's a lot cooler down there!"

Moving to wait for her new allies to join her in the lift, she focused on shrugging off the heat and calming her excitement for the potential battles that might lay ahead. She wasn't sure how good at fighting either of these very hairy people were, so she might have to do her best to protect them. Of course, if the trial involved a lot of puzzles or anything like that, she hoped that at least one of them would be good at that part.

Yeteta followed Cera into the lift, the structure dipping with a slight metallic groan at the weight of the Yeti.
"Eugh, floor is sticky," the Yeti huffed, lifting a foot unhappily. "Yuck,"
She pushed fur back out of her eyes, the thick wool she was dressed in sodden in sweat. She probably smelled like the north end of a southbound goat.

The elevator door closed and they rattled downwards into the darkness. The lift hit the bottom and a wolf-like creature moved towards them. Yeteta's reaction was to squeal extremely loudly and punch the wolf creature in the face. It toppled to the ground and didn't get up.
"Oops," Yeteta said, crouching to study the creature and its bloody nose. "Did it died? I think it died,"
She prodded it with fat fingers and it let out a groan. "Oh. It not died. We run, before it wakes,"
Yeteta looked up, studying the torchlit cave with dark eyes. "This going be fun,"


(yee have a tiny shitty post. Wasn't sure how to continue without directly addressing Bluddo in case Osha doesn't return and we need to move on without him)